Rural Thai
Pioneering Rural Thai School
One of Thailand’s daily newspapers, The Nation, published a story last week about the Mechai Bamboo School, an innovative institution which is mostly run by the students. The students select the incoming applicants, hire the teachers, promote patterns of community service, and foster student enterprises. They are involved with such school business issues as purchases, […]
The Trap of Rural Thailand [journal article review]
One of the causes of the May 2014 military coup in Thailand was the persistent rhetoric about corrupt governments that had tried to favor the Rural Thai people. Few commentators noted the fabled peacefulness of the Rural Thai society that Phillips (1965) had so effectively described, nor did they appear to pay much attention to […]
Rural Thai Children Threatened by Absence of Parents
Millions of Rural Thai children are being raised by their grandparents, a social situation that seems to be producing serious problems for the youngsters, such as increased levels of aggression toward their peers. The Bangkok Post last week published an analysis of the issue based on preliminary results from an academic study plus the paper’s […]
Reports of Violence in Thai High Schools [journal article review]
A recent journal article reports that, due to sweeping social changes, high school students in Thailand witness nearly as much violence as young people in the United States. The study, by Penchan Sherer and Moshe Sherer, was published in the May 2014 issue of the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. The authors […]
Seminar Presentation on Rural Thai Culture
At the end of last week in Thailand, news reports were cautiously hopeful, since protesters had mostly ended their blockades, expecting the courts to resolve the political crisis. While the impasse continues between the government of prime minister Yingluck Shiniwatra with her mostly rural power base and the urban/elite anti-government faction, at least Bangkok traffic […]
Rural Thai Culture of Rice Farming
The role of rice in the diet, culture, economy, and politics of Thailand received renewed attention in recent weeks as the country prepared for its national elections. The current political dispute in Thailand, though mostly peaceful, has garnered international news for several months focusing on the rural/urban divide in the nation. The Khaleej Times, a […]
Thailand Celebrates its Peaceful Traditions
An AP report last Thursday explained that the recent protests in Thailand have been caused by deep divisions between the peaceful rural Thai and urban residents of the country. Protesters in Bangkok resent the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, the sister of exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. He was driven out of […]
Cockfighting in Rural Thailand
Last week, a young American posted on his travel blog numerous pictures, a video, and an interesting narrative describing a cockfight he attended in rural Thailand. Bradley, who describes himself as “a 25 year old dude from California,” lives and teaches English in the rural northeastern part of the country. He explains that he was […]
Changes in Rural Thailand [journal article review]
Scholars and policy makers have tended to view Rural Thai villages as stable communities where people normally retain permanent residences. That stability is believed to be an essential ingredient in fostering both a healthy society and a productive economy. Migrations of people, according to that view, are a problem that officials and policy makers need […]
Social Changes in Rural Thailand [journal article review]
Claims that the Rural Thai people are “peaceful” are based, in part, on a remarkable study conducted by Phillips (1965) between 1956 and 1958 in a village in Central Thailand. The nonviolence that Phillips recorded in Bang Chan was a result of the Buddhist values of the people and the fabric of their rural society. […]
